04/09/2011

BRIAN BROWN: "Well I would quibble with the way you asked the question. The idea of legalizing same-sex marriage takes for granted the notion that there is something called same-sex marriage and that right now, somehow, if people enter into a same-sex marriage in their church, that somehow the state is going to be involved in saying 'no, no, you can't do that' or even possibly some sort of penalty -- that's not the case. If two people in their religious organization, their church, decide to have a religious ceremony, they can do that, Instead I would ask the question, should states redefine marriage. States should not redefine marriage, marriage is some intrinsic thing, it's not a fungible thing that can be changed with a matter of law, it exists before the state..."

Watch the Human Rights Campaign's Brian Rice instead take on the actual topic at hand (i.e. civil marriage equality under the constituion) and handily win:

*Oh, and be sure to listen to how Brian answers a church/state separation question. He doesn't give even a second of consideration to the meat of this issue, which is the separation (already, as of now) between civil marriage licensing and the optional religious ceremony. Instead he makes it all about the people who are opposed to honoring gay couples and the churches who are supposedly being pummeled by the pesky 'mos: